Michelin’s UK and ROI commercial team has surpassed one million man hours without a lost time accident, as a result of a collective effort to improve health and safety.

The Michelin commercial team, which comprises more than 450 tyre technicians, sales-people and company car drivers, have recorded this milestone in one year alone.

In 2006 the commercial team experienced 12 lost time accidents, resulting in 216 working days lost.

Since then, Michelin has worked hard to provide a safer environment overall for employees, bringing road safety benefits to all drivers with the help of the company’s Road Safety Committee and personnel department.

Communication and company procedures around safety have been improved, including a focus on equipment handling and working environment for the tyre technicians, company driver screening and the introduction of an annual Permit to Drive.

Michelin’s tyre technicians work exclusively in around 450 bus depots and garages throughout the UK and Northern Ireland, while other members of the team use vehicles as part of their job.

The vast majority of these results were achieved outside of the Michelin environment and not necessarily surrounded by a safety culture on a daily basis.

Malcolm Scovell, commercial director at Michelin Tyre PLC, said: “We are thrilled about achieving this milestone, especially given the number of fitters working in remote locations and the number of company car drivers we have. The in-house and remote teams work extremely hard to ensure safety is driven through everything we do, and I think this outcome demonstrates that.”